Roald Hazelhoff, Education Advisor
Roald Hazelhoff is the Founder and Executive Director for the Southern Environmental Center (SEC), formerly housed at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), for over 30 years (1993-2024). The Center built support and awareness to model green initiatives on campus and in surrounding Birmingham communities. Under Roald’s leadership, over $5 million in capital campaign funds were secured since 1996 to construct SEC’s award-winning facilities on BSC’s campus, the largest educational facility of its kind in Alabama. SEC secured an additional $3.9 million between 2008-2023 to transform Turkey Creek Nature Preserve from a local dumping site into a regional destination for 130,000 visitors per year. SEC provided on-site STEMM programming for schools, maintained hiking/mountain bike trails, and helped protect federally endangered species of Vermilion and Rush darter fish. In 2024, Roald started the new Birmingham Urban Watershed STEMM Initiative (BUWSI), modeled after BSC’s award-winning STEMMing the Tide initiative, to incorporate environmental justice and climate change themes into science modules for 11 Birmingham City schools located within the Village Creek watershed. He has worked on a number of advisory boards in a variety of key organizations around the greater Birmingham area, including the Sustainable City Commission for the City of Birmingham, Jones Valley Urban Farm, and UAB’s School of Public Health. Roald’s tireless commitment to environmental stewardship has been recognized by the White House, the Birmingham Business Journal, and Mercedes Benz.
Ronda McMichael
Anne’s Cans owner and CEO, Ronda McMichael, has been in the waste business for over 40 years and has grown her businesses to encompass almost everything imaginable related to waste and waste disposal. McMichael puchased Anne’s Cans in 2010 and founded Wise Environmental Services, Inc. at the same time. Wise Environmental has purchased several smaller companies, including Mac’s Vacs and Yellow Hammer Roll Offs, to expand the ability of the company to handle portable sanitation on a larger scale. McMichael is a lifelong resident of the Anniston/Oxford area. Anne’s Cans’ crew are local to the Birmingham area and her staff and crew at Wise Environmental are local to the Anniston/Oxford area, as she is a firm believer that making her community better starts at home. McMichael is adamant about training, safety and diversity, and strives to help her staff be the best possible employees, as well as give them a great working environment.